Onsite supervision’s critical role in mission success

Ground operations supervision is less about insurance and more about assurance. It removes the insurance aspect but instead helps mitigate the effects of unforeseen events, whether by accident or design. Assurance, on the other hand, is all about ensuring that avoidable oversights don’t happen in the first place. The key point here is that by the time we need insurance, things have already gone wrong and we’re looking to minimize the consequences of those events. It’s the role of the UAS Global Network of VIP supervisors and station managers to provide assurance for passengers and operators by addressing and rectifying avoidable oversights before they become an issue. Unforeseen events do happen, however, so if insurance is required the supervisor will be there, on the spot, to coordinate events and mitigate their impact.

Private aviation is a complex process with many activities which need to be initiated and coordinated for a flight to happen. The vast majority of those processes are invisible to the passenger. Indeed, most passengers will have no idea of the technical, logistical, and regulatory procedures which must be completed and coordinated to successfully fly them from one FBO to another.

So, if events arise which cause delay to their journey, for whatever reason, it’s the service provider that the passenger has the most direct contact with who gets the blame. Some examples of issues include:

• Catering doesn’t arrive, or the wrong catering arrives
• Ground transport is held up at the security gate or waiting at the main/wrong terminal
• CIQ doesn’t have the full passenger details for pre-clearance
• Fuel Release not received or Fuel bowser not ready for the aircraft
• FBO dealing with many movements before your flight
• Aircraft needs towing from the parking position to FBO
• Flight Plan needs re-filing
• De-Icing not ready

These examples are generally out of the direct control of the aircraft operator. But through no fault of their own, it’s they who will have to deal with the consequences and perhaps jeopardize their relationship with the passenger or organization that is their client.

There’s no great secret to applying the preventative management and coordination which on-the-ground supervision delivers. Very often it’s the basic, apparently inconsequential things that lead to delays. It’s simply a matter of asking the right questions to the right people and checking to ensure that their part in the process is complete and ready.

The thing about preventative management is that when it’s successful, nobody knows what has been prevented! As far as the passenger is concerned, they departed, they flew, they arrived, and all was smooth, comfortable, and uneventful.

Getting the support of a supervisor could be perceived as an additional cost. However, the value of making the investment will pay dividends once an avoidable oversight or unexpected event that would have caused a delay to your passengers’ flight or transit of the FBO occurs.

For VIP onsite supervision with your global flight operations, UAS